Monthly Archives: July 2014

Pictured here is an icon of Christ the Savior that somehow through the grace of God came from my very hands (and the help of Sister Rosaire!). This is the story of my brush with God, how I came to paint an image of Jesus and how the process deepened my relationship with our Lord.

After Mass one weekend Gerogette Belobrajdic, a parishioner of Holy Sepulcher Parish, asked me to bless some icons that she had brought with her. I love icons and after blessing them I complimented her on their beauty and asked where she had purchased them so that I might get one for myself. She informed me that she had painted them herself at an icon class she had taken with Sister Rosaire Kopczenski at the Sisters of St. Francis in Millvale, just outside of Pittsburgh.

Published as a column in the Holy Sepulcher Bulletin for July 27, 2014

Just like last week, today’s gospel includes three parables about the kingdom of heaven. But today’s parables differ because each of them are told from the viewpoint of individuals who recognize that they have found or collected something that is worth far more than they could have ever imagined or hoped for. So they will spend the time, cost, and effort necessary to secure it for themselves.

The Journey Home is a program on the Catholic network EWTN that each week features a guest who tells their journey of faith into the Catholic Church. This coming Monday, July 28 at 8 pm ET I will be appearing on the show to tell my story of entering the Catholic Church after growing up a Protestant Lutheran. The story involves a rosary, a robbery, and a number of important people, most of whom I forget to mention, and just about everyone I actually do mention, I forget to mention by name (including my wife Karen!).

Dianne Machesney is the chair of the St. Teresa of Avila Parish (Pittsburgh, PA) Pro-Life Committee and about 12 years ago she started doing a monthly newsletter of pro-life issues for the parish bulletin. The newsletter has expanded to include other Catholic parishes and non-Catholic churches to educate and keep life issues on people’s radar.

If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter for yourself, your parish, or your church you can contact Dianne at diannem15237@aol.com.

Published as a column in the Holy Sepulcher Bulletin for July 20, 2014

We all have ideas of what heaven is going to be like for us one day. An avid reader might picture heaven to be a library or bookstore with every available title. A golfer might picture heaven as endless rounds of golf on perfectly manicured fairways and greens. Someone who likes to travel or someone who spends a great deal of their life working probably pictures heaven as an endless vacation resting on a sunny beach or hiking, biking, or camping among gorgeous mountains or other beautiful scenery. Certainly each one of us looks forward to meeting our Lord, getting reacquainted with our loved ones, and spending eternity without pain, suffering, illness, or loss at the banquet of heaven. We each have thoughts about heaven and our visions reflect a hope that we are one day going to spend eternity enjoying ourselves in a most wonderful place.

Published as a column in the Holy Sepulcher Bulletin for July 13, 2014

Anyone that has ever tried to get grass to grow on a bare spot in their lawn knows how difficult and what a time consuming process this can be. You have to make sure that before you plant any seed that the area is well prepared. You have to rake to remove rocks and loosen the soil to the proper depth and put extra nutrients into the ground with compost or fertilizer. After scattering seed over the area you must keep the area moist by watering it at least once a day for a couple of weeks, keep the area clear of foot traffic and birds, and remove any weeds that sprout up that will take moisture and nutrients from the seedlings. You have to nurture the grass for it to grow properly. It is a lot of work, but your results depend on how much work you are willing to put into it.

We are now well within the summer vacation season, our time to get away from our busy lives and simply relax. But Jesus says in today’s gospel:

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.

Today’s gospel is a reminder for us that we truly rest only when we rest in our Lord. So whether we are heading out to a city, park, or beach for a quick weekend getaway or a two-week dream vacation, when we get away from it all, we should not include our faith and our Sunday obligation among the things we are getting away from.